2023-04-05-accounts

Trustees’ Annual Report for the period

From 05/04/2022 To 04/04/2023

Charity name: Bristol Bat Rescue

Charity registration number: 1182760

Objectives and Activities

	SORP reference
Summary of the purposes of the charity as set out in its governing document	Para 1.17	To rescue, rehabilitate and release sick, injured and orphaned bats. To educate the public about bats, including science, conservation and rehabilitation, which may include use of the permanent licensed education bats.
Summary of the main activities in relation to those purposes for the public benefit, in particular, the activities, projects or services identified in the accounts.	Para 1.17 and 1.19	(1) To rescue and rehabilitate bats found by the public or handed over to animal carers, or have bats euthanaised if that is what their welfare requires; (2) Safeguarding the public and animal carers (e.g. veterinary staff) who have come into contact with bats to ensure that they are aware of the risks of European Bat Lyssaviruses (EBVL 1 and 2), which is fatal if contracted from an infected bat and not treated within time; (3) To assist the public and animal carers to ensure bats and their roosts are treated in line with the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; (4) To prevent spread of Covid 19 to UK bats; (5) To contribute to conservation efforts for Protected Species (bats) through rescuing and rehabilitating those that can be returned to the wild to maintain the wild population; through educating the public about bats; and through recording and sharing data of use to conservationists.

Statement confirming	Para 1.18	Yes
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

	SORP reference
Policy on grant making	Para 1.38
Policy on social investment including program related investment	Para 1.38
Contribution made by volunteers	Para 1.38	We have had no volunteers working with us during the reporting period. All work has been done by Stewart Rowden and Kiri Green.
Other

Achievements and Performance

	SORP reference
Summary of the main achievements of the charity, identifying the difference the charity’s work has made to the circumstances of its beneficiaries and any wider benefits to society as a whole.	Para 1.20	(1) BBR helped at least 189 bats during this recording period. We managed to rescue and care for 67 bats ourselves, despite work and family commitments. As with previous years several of these bats were entrusted to us by the RSPCA or vets. We spent time on calls networking directly to help another 44 get rescued by other carers/RSPCA/vets. The remaining 78 we helped through advice- either providing information on where else to get help, or if we were satisfied that the bat was suitable for

release then advising on how to do this and what to do next if the release was unsuccessful. We get calls from across the UK and sometimes Eire. As usual we carried out our work in line with the Animal Welfare Act 2006, the Conservation of Habitats and Species Regulations 2017, and the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981. We are aware of the requirements of the Veterinary Surgeons Act 1966. We followed the guidelines set out by the Bat Conservation Trust in their Bat Care Guidelines. Of the 67 bats 13 had to be euthanised due to injuries, and 6 died of injuries or illness. There were several other cases where bats we advised on had to be taken to a vet for euthanasia based on our assessment. It is common for us to use our experience to help vets assess whether a bat can be saved or not. We helped 31 bat pups. 6 of these died. We therefore successfully rescued and rehabilitated 69-70% of the bats that came into our care during this reporting period. All bats that required the use of a flightcage travelled to North Devon Bat Care’s flightcage, and Wiltshire Bat Care’s flightcage. The busiest month was July 2021 with 70 requests for help, followed by June with 28. During the winter months bats are normally hibernating so it is rare to get calls during that time- we had 17 over the four months Species we cared for ourselves: Serotines (2); Leisler’s (1); Brown longeared (6); Daubenton’s (5); Common and Soprano Pipistrelles (45); Lesser horseshoe (1).

(2) It is a standard part of our call procedure to check with callers that no one has been bitten or scratched by a bat, and to advise them not to handle bats with unprotected hands. We did have instances of people reporting being bitten or scratched by bats, and we gave them appropriate advice to seek medical advice in line with Bat Conservation Trust’s guidelines and chapter 27 of the

NHS Green Book. If a bat we took in had bitten/scratched a person, and the bat died, we sent the corpse to APHA for testing with the details of the person who was bitten/scratched. We used our social media accounts to educate the public that EBLV 1 and 2 (aka rabies) is a virus carried by a very small number of bats in the UK, despite the UK being officially rabies-free, and that it is fatal if any possible infection is not treated in time. (3) As with (2) it is part of our call procedure to cover any legal aspects regarding the protection of bats and their roosts we feel are relevant for the situation. Again we used social media accounts to educate the public on these matters; (4) We worked in line with Bat Conservation Trust’s Covid 19 guidance to protect bats that came into our, and to educate the public on the issues. No bats in the UK are known to carry Covid 19. Experts believe it would be possible for someone with Covid 19 to infect a bat with the virus and spread that virus into the wild population, so we took what steps we could to prevent this happening in line with national guidelines. (5) We were able to directly help 35% of the bats we received calls about. We have submitted our records from this reporting period to the local environmental records organisation coving our core area- we still need to submit records to the other areas we took bats in from. Regarding public education, we educated the public via social media (our website, Facebook, Youtube, Instagram and Twitter. We also ran a couple of public talks and spent a day at Bristol University assisting with teaching students about bats

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

Achievements against objectives set	Para 1.41
Performance of fundraising activities against objectives set	Para 1.41
Investment performance against objectives	Para 1.41
Other

Financial Review

Review of the charity’s financial position at the end of the period	Para 1.21	We started the reporting period at +£43. We were paid £250 by Bristol University for assisting with teaching students about bats. We received £30 through online fundraising and £100 through talks and donations from people finding bats. Our costs from travel, equipment, food, medical supplies, and general costs totalled £1150. In previous years we have estimated that on average each bat costs £20-£30. We therefore ended the reporting period with a debit of -£770 paid for out of our personal finances.
Statement explaining the policy for holding reserves stating why they are held	Para 1.22
Amount of reserves held	Para 1.22
Reasons for holding zero reserves	Para 1.22
Details of fund materially in deficit	Para 1.24
Explanation of any uncertainties about the charity continuing as a going concern	Para 1.23

Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements where relevant about:

The charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising)	Para 1.47
Investment policy and objectives including any social investment policy adopted	Para 1.46
A description of the principal risks facing the charity	Para 1.46	The financial impacts on ourselves personally as the shortfall is having to come out of our personal finances.
Other

Structure, Governance and Management

Description of charity’s trusts:
Type of governing document (trust deed, royal charter)	Para 1.25	Constitution
How is the charity constituted? (e.g unincorporated association, CIO)	Para 1.25	Charitable Incorporated Organisation- Foundation
Trustee selection methods including details of any constitutional provisions e.g. election to post or name of any person or body entitled to appoint one or more trustees	Para 1.25	Election by Trustees
Additional information (optional) You may choose to include further statements		where relevant about:
Policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees	Para 1.51
The charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works	Para 1.51
Relationship with any related parties	Para 1.51
Other

Reference and Administrative details

Charity name	Bristol Bat Rescue
Other name the charity uses
Registered charitynumber	1182760
Charity’s principal address	77 Alcove Road. Fishponds, Bristol BS16 3DS

Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20	Trustee name	Office (if any)	Dates acted if not for whole year	Name of person (or body) entitled to appoint trustee(if any)
	Kiri Green
	Stewart Rowden

– Corporate trustees names of the directors at the date the report was approved

Director name

Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity

Trustee name Dates acted if not for whole year

Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others

Description of the assets held in this capacity

Name and objects of the charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects

Details of arrangements for safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets

Additional information (optional)

Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)

Type of Name Address adviser

Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)

Exemptions from disclosure

Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details

Other optional information

Declarations

The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.

Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees

Signature(s) Full name(s) Position (eg Secretary, Chair, etc) Date	Kiri Green	Stewart Rowden
	Kiri Joanne Green	Stewart James Rowden
	Chair
	01/09/2025
	01/09/2025